Meet Mark

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Sisson. I’m 63 years young. I live and work in Malibu, California. In a past life I was a professional marathoner and triathlete. Now my life goal is to help 100 million people get healthy. I started this blog in 2006 to empower people to take full responsibility for their own health and enjoyment of life by investigating, discussing, and critically rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true about health and wellness...

And the Sherlock Award Goes to…

Back in 1990, Uncle Sam launched the 5-a-day campaign. I won’t say it’s been a total failure – just a major one (here’s a good analysis). As reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Brightsurf informs us that only a handful of people eat more than a few servings of fruits and vegetables daily (here are the numbers).

I make a point of living on vegetables drenched in healthy fats, with a little protein added in. My diet isn’t really that complicated: simply, I avoid processed foods like the death nuggets that they are.

What I want to get people thinking about is a dietary paradigm shift. This isn’t about adding an extra side of vegetables or substituting fruit for candy. This is about making produce your primary source of energy, of fuel. Vegetables are more than garnish. No amount of antioxidant accessorizing is going to save your health. Accenting with healthy foods – whether it’s adding vitamins to breakfast pastries, minerals to soda, or a scoop of broccoli to alfredo-drenched pasta – is not the same as being healthy.

That’s the real reason Uncle Sam’s 5-a-day target completely misses the mark and is being put out to pasture. Health is not about a magic number (which, by the way, is far too low – we need 7 or 9 servings of produce daily). It’s not about adding. It’s about a lifestyle. And that means a total change, which, if we’re really honest with ourselves, is the hardest part.

Perhaps it’s the misconception that eating fruits and vegetables takes a lot of work. I’ve got two words for that: freezer case.